Top 5 Best LuCI Themes for OpenWRT Routers
A Guide To The Most Beautiful OpenWRT Skins
If you are looking for the best themes or skins for your newly configured OpenWRT router then you are in the right place. Here I have listed my top 5 picks for OpenWRT themes that can be used with the LuCI web interface.
For those who don’t know, OpenWRT is actually a router operating system that is completely free and open source. The whole development process is community-driven. As we all know that modern routers have firmware containing the operating system that runs the router. A router is a kind of computer BTW.
Anyways, there are a lot of router manufacturers out there and they use different firmware for their routers. For example, TP-Link use has its own firmware, ASUS has its own and so have other brands. Some of them build the firmware from scratch while some companies use OpenWRT as the base of their firmware. Because it is much easier. For example, Xiaomi or Redmi routers use a firmware named Mi Router OS which is based on OpenWRT.
If a lot of brands use OpenWRT then why does the user interface look so different? Well, it’s because of the theme or skin we are talking about in this article. The manufacturers design their own skin using CSS to match their brand identity and merge it with the core OpenWRT files. The fun fact is that the generic OpenWRT firmware doesn’t even come with a graphical UI, let alone a fancy theme.
To get that graphical user interface that we normally see inside a router dashboard we need LuCI. LuCI is nothing but an extension for OpenWRT written in Lua that enables a vanilla GUI for OpenWRT. Since LuCI supports various themes we can make our OpenWRT router’s interface unique and beautiful by developing custom themes or skins.
But for normal users, it’s not possible to develop themes. Rather they can use community-developed themes on their routers. Those are generic LuCI themes and can be used with any brand’s router that can run OpenWRT. Although there are a number of themes available for LuCI, those are scattered here and there on the internet. So, it becomes difficult to find good themes when you have just configured your new OpenWRT router.
Best OpenWRT Skins for Routers
This is why I have come up with this list of my favorites. Although the taste varies from person to person, I think you guys will love these 5 best OpenWRT themes that I have mentioned below. So, without any further ado let’s get into the themes.
Wait a minute, before getting into the router skins let’s talk about the router first. If you haven’t configured your router with OpenWRT yet and want to buy a new router to get started with OpenWRT, I have a great recommendation for you.
This TP-Link Archer A9 (AC1900) is my personal favorite. I have been using this router for a few months. I don’t have any complaints regarding this router yet. It works like a charm. No matter how many devices I am using it never drops the network. The heat dissipation system is awesome in this router.
On top of that, this router is officially supported by the OpenWRT project. There is a large user base for this router and hence you will get all the upcoming builds of OpenWRT earlier than others. Overall, considering the price this is an absolute bang for the buck.
1. Argon
The first one on this list is named LuCI Theme Argon. This one is my personal favorite. I am an admirer of minimalist design language. This theme is actually a fork of another popular OpenWRT theme named Material. This is why you will see a lot of material UI elements here and there. I really liked the accent colors and icons used in this theme.
2. Neobird
LuCI Theme Neobird will remind you of iOS in terms of design language. The skin is quite polished in terms of looks and aesthetics. The light background with pleasant colors will blow your mind. If you are using a MacOS device then it will blend nicely with your system. Overall, this is such a theme that can be called a “good design”.
3. Darkmatter
This one is yet another elegant-looking theme for OpenWRT routers. LuCI Theme Darkmatter is for the member of the “Dark Mode Squad” out there. The UI elements and color palette resembles the ASUS router’s stock firmware. I really liked the aesthetics it brought to my router dashboard. The buttons, fonts everything are well designed and they don’t look cluttered at all.
4. Rosy
This is a simple theme with light background and a dark sidebar. It brings a contrasty look to the user interface by combining it with the pink accent color. This is surely a classy theme for your OpenWRT router. There are several spinoffs of this LuCI Theme Rosy. I like this original one most because of its minimal look. So if you are here for simple yet beautiful skin, this can be your pick.
5. Infinity Freedom
This skin is known as LuCI Theme Infinity Freedom. I don’t really know the story behind this specific name. But I think the designer denoted the freedom OpenWRT brings to our routers by using this beautiful name. The theme itself is fancy-looking with a wallpaper background. You will see the use of beautiful icons with texts that makes it professional and easy to use.
Final Thoughts on the Best LuCI Web Interface Skins
So, these were my 5 most favorite LuCI themes. Maybe there are some other good themes that I don’t know about. So, if you know about such themes for OpenWRT that are more beautiful looking than these, you can let me know in the comments below. I will be happy to check them out. Also, that will help the other users who are in search of more unique LuCI themes.
